Welding for dummies thread?

[joe_m]

I've been ready to buy a welding outfit for years but I keep chickening out because the only experience I have in welding is H.S. shop class (spot welder) and - many years ago - using someone's oxy-acetylene torch to cut a big piece of metal in two.

Now I'm back to wanting my own but don't know what to get. Any chance on starting a thread that covers MIG/TIG/Oxy/MAPP/Plasma and anything else I might encounter out there? Kind of like the CNC thread that starts at 0 knowledge?

If not - then how about a simple suggestion for me. What is the cheapest and most efficient for my particular needs:

1. I want to build a few (4) woodworking lathe rests - basically a metal bar or angle iron with a notch ground on it, and a round bar goes on that notch. The weld has to be super strong and since woodturning is a zen thing, it's got to be pretty.
2. I would like to be able to rough cut some big things - maybe once a year - but I'm scared to keep a giant tank of oxygen around because 1) I know it will be 10 years before I empty it and I don't want to be stuck with an out-of-date tank that nobody will fill and 2) I live in the desert and I'm paranoid about things that can get hot and go boom.
3. I want to be able to heat-treat some tool steel for plane blades or home-made chisels. I've got a small propane forge but want something bigger/faster.
4. I have an ATV trailer - the el-cheapo Home Depot type with the big swing-down ramp on back. I want to cut that ramp (I could use a saw) down to size, weld square tubes along the outside and make sides that would drop into those tubes so I can use it to haul bigger stuff to the dump but lift the sides out when I don't want to use them.
5. I don't have any neighbors but just in case, I want to be able to take all the ugly rusted stuff laying by the shed and if I get a neighbor that pisses me off I want to weld it all together into a 12' tall piece of cr@p that I will call "art". Something hideous, I'll probably paint parts of it dayglo orange and fluorescent pink and it would be made of a mix of mystery metals so I need something capable of welding steel to aluminum to wrought iron - clean or rusted.
6. Weeks from now when I've learned all I can about welding and am the world's expert on the subject, I want to try and repair a woodworking plane that has a crack. But unlike every single other such repair done in the last 100 years, I don't want it to look like someone dripped bronze brazing all over the thing and tried to smooth it down with their teeth - I want a perfectly invisible repair in cast iron. A repair so clean and precise that it will take a team of scientists with electron microscopes to find the repair.

Oh - I want to do it all for less than $300 if possible.

thanks
Joe

 

[Tamper84]

Ok, I will take a stab here. Before I start, I do weld for a living.

With you wanting to heat and weld, in all honestly, you cant beat an oxy/acetylene. Heat, weld, and cut in one package. But you said you didnt want the cylinders sitting around. And around here (eastern Ohio) a 99 year lease on the tanks is 399 bucks. Just take the tank in when empty and swap them out. Of course you have to pay for the fill up. When you get to cutting really big iron, you will use more then you think. When I was relining a caterpillar D-11 blade, I went thru 10 oxy tanks cutting the old liner off.

If I can suggest anything, it would be to have a torch setup, along with an ac/dc stick welder. They do make electrodes very small (1/16). If you are wanting to to weld rusty metal together, MIG and TIG is out. The metal has to be clean with those two.

When I learned to weld, the first thing I was taught was oxy/ace welding. If any one asks me, that is the best way to start. It is slower then molasses, but you get to see the puddle and learn how to manipulate it as well. Plus, pretty much every move you make with a torch, can be applied to TIG as well. No smoke and sparks to try and see through.

But if you have grinders/saws and such, I would just recommend an ac/dc stick welder. You can weld all metals (yes they make aluminum electrodes, but messy). As well as all thicknesses, 1/16-1/4" and bigger electrodes. Just need a heck of a big welder to run those big boys. Also, you can carbon arc (air arc) from a stick welder, just hook up an air compressor and go to town. And since a stick welder is a constant current power source, you can also lift arc tig from them(just need a tig torch)

With what you want to do, I would stay away from the 110v machines. They do have there place, I have one, sheet metal only. After that it goes to stick. If you can scour craigslist, look for an old transformer machine. Like a Miller ABP 330 machine or a Lincoln 300/300. They have built in High frequency for tig, also one heck of a stick welder. You usually see them for sale any where from 300-1000 ready to go. Or if you just want to stick some metal together and learn, grab up an old Lincoln tombstone off of craigslist for a couple hundred and start burning rod. Oh also dont overlook the Lincoln Idealarcs either. Plentyful cheap and damn good to boot.

My only problem with the Tombstones, is the settings on them. What you see is what you get, no fine adjustment. When I have been welding on the same piece all day, I do adjust my heat by 5-10 amps. I think on the tombstones, there is a 25 or so amp difference between settings.

I have no experiece with the Longevity/Everlast etc welders. Ive heard good and bad on both.

Now onto the cast iron. The only way I have ever repaired cast, was brazing. Never did have good luck electrical welding it. Also, with a cast iron repair, I have seen some done beautifully, but you can still tell it has been repaired.

Enough of my rambling, Im hoping I didnt confuse you or anything, just my 2 pennies worth.

Chris

 

[joe_m]

But if you have grinders/saws and such, I would just recommend an ac/dc stick welder. You can weld all metals (yes they make aluminum electrodes, but messy). As well as all thicknesses, 1/16-1/4" and bigger electrodes. Just need a heck of a big welder to run those big boys. Also, you can carbon arc (air arc) from a stick welder, just hook up an air compressor and go to town. And since a stick welder is a constant current power source, you can also lift arc tig from them(just need a tig torch)

With what you want to do, I would stay away from the 110v machines. They do have there place, I have one, sheet metal only. After that it goes to stick. If you can scour craigslist, look for an old transformer machine. Like a Miller ABP 330 machine or a Lincoln 300/300. They have built in High frequency for tig, also one heck of a stick welder. You usually see them for sale any where from 300-1000 ready to go. Or if you just want to stick some metal together and learn, grab up an old Lincoln tombstone off of craigslist for a couple hundred and start burning rod. Oh also dont overlook the Lincoln Idealarcs either. Plentyful cheap and damn good to boot.

My only problem with the Tombstones, is the settings on them. What you see is what you get, no fine adjustment. When I have been welding on the same piece all day, I do adjust my heat by 5-10 amps. I think on the tombstones, there is a 25 or so amp difference between settings.

Good start - great info. Now what do you mean by "stick welder" ? I thought all welders needed a stick of filler/flux? I've written down the names of the ones you recommended and I'll start looking on Craigslist for something cheap to popup.
thanks
Joe

 

[tripletap3]

Good start - great info. Now what do you mean by "stick welder" ? I thought all welders needed a stick of filler/flux? I've written down the names of the ones you recommended and I'll start looking on Craigslist for something cheap to popup.
thanks
Joe

Electric arc welding requires a shielding gas of some sort to keep the arc from the atmosphere mainly O2. MIG and TIG welders use a specific type of bottled gas to shield or replace the unwanted atmosphere around the arc. This type of shielding makes a very clean weld. A stick welder uses a metal rod that is coated with a type of material (called flux but not the same stuff used to clean and promote adhesion in brazing and soldering) that as it burns it creates a gas that does the shielding. This creates a slag that must be chipped off before more welding is done over it. Some MIG welders also use a wire with a flux core that does the same thing and must be chipped off as well.

 

[Ray C]

Hi All....

Stick welding = Arc welding.

From the sound of it, I think you want a combo unit that does plasma cutting, TIG and Arc/Stick welding. There are many such beasts out there that do just that. I have one but it's expensive. You won't find much that welds aluminum in the $300 price range. There's two practcial ways to weld aluminum... MIG with a MIG gun and TIG.

Just so happens, I do a fair bit of all these and for the same reason as you, don't don't keep Acytelene around. I just don't need the expense of another rented bottle and don't care to have it around anymore.

One thing though, you mentioned heat treating... You can do some approximate tempering of metals with a torch but, the contaminants and uncertaintly of temperatures are drawbacks. Proper heat treating is best not done with torches. -Possible yes, predictable -not really.

Do a Net search on Multi-Process welders. I have an Everlast unit, a brand called Longevity comes to mind. Also is the brand that Tony Wells just bought but the name escapes me at the moment. These are all the upper-end of the second-tier products. The big names like Lincoln, Miller, ThermalArc, Hobart... -Forget it. You won't touch it in the $300 range.

If you have questions about any particular process, fire away...


Ray

EDIT: If you want to do aluminum, make sure the unit you get can do variable frequency AC or at least, pulsed DC. Most such animals cost more than $300 though. And finally, I'm not a big fan of the Harbor Freight electric welders. I went through 3 of them like popcorn. They didn't hold up. The HF gas torches are very good.

 

[Gary Max]

Joe if you live in the right place------ go take a class---- it will save you money. Then buy the welders you need.

 

[DMS]

For most of the stuff you list, I think oxy/fuel is the way to go for you. You won't be able to weld aluminum or cast iron, but you can do a lot with steel.

If you just want to stick to pieces of steel together quickly, a wire welder with flux core wire is probably the easiest, and cheaper than true mig. "Stick" welding (also called SMAW, or just plain "arc welding") is probably the cheapest, but takes a little more practice than a wire welder.

 

[joe_m]

Joe if you live in the right place------ go take a class---- it will save you money. Then buy the welders you need.

Welding was actually the last industrial arts class that the local college taught, but they gave that up a few years ago. No big loss there - I'm a resourceful guy and I'm sure with the right help from the internet I could teach myself it all - heck, I could probably learn underwater welding in my bathtub with a crazy-straw for a snorkel and a bic lighter for a flame! :rofl:

 

[Rbeckett]

Joe,
I am a retired welder by trade and I can tell you that what you would like to do is nearly impossible for the budget you have set. A much more reasonable budget would be closer to 1000.00 and that will get you a helment, gloves clampsm tools, tip cleaner, nozz;e dip and a small wire welder. Most folks end up going cheap and realize that cheaper means less amps which translates directly into limits on what you can safely fuse. If you have a size limit and a list of materials you would like to work wuth I wpould be thrilled to help you get the biggest bang for your buck and help you get started. Welding is mostly practice. You gather some basic info and then apply it to your welds. The more you weld the better your welds will look and the better they will perform in real world situations. I tend to shy awau from import machines and multipurpose machines because imports have a bad reputation for longevity and multi machines give up some things to do others and I prefer a quality machine designed for the process I am currently using. LMK if I can help you get started, I wouls love to help you if I can.
Bob

 

[Gary Max]

Personally-------- get yourself a AC/DC Arc welder.
You will never weld up tool post with a mig--- they just don't have enough bite to dig into inch steel.
With a Arc welder you can but different rods and weld many types of projects.
Understand I am just a hack but I am also a woodworker so I have a good ideal of where you are going with this.